The Christian Wheel of the Year: Ash Wednesday

Meménto, homo, quia pulvis es, et in púlverem revertéris.

Ash Wednesday

Ash Wednesday marks the official beginning of Lent. The great tradition of Ash Wednesday is, of course, its namesake, the ashes placed on either the crown or the forehead. 

In the traditional rite, the ashes are blessed by a series of 5 prayers. The first reads as follows: 

Almighty and everlasting God, spare those who are penitent, be merciful to those who implore Thee; and vouchsafe to send Thy holy Angel from Heaven, to bless + and sanctif+fy these ashes, that they may be a wholesome remedy to all who humbly implore Thy holy Name, and who accuse themselves, conscious of their sins, deploring their misdeeds before Thy divine mercy, or humbly and earnestly beseeching Thy sovereign goodness; and grant through the invocation of Thy most holy Name that whosoever shall be sprinkled with them for the remission of their sins may receive both the health of the body and safety of the soul. Through Christ our Lord, Amen.

The prayers conclude:

Grant us, O Lord, to begin with holy fasts the campaign of our Christian warfare: that, as we do battle with the spirits of evil, we may be protected by the help of self-denial. Through Christ our Lord, Amen.

Ashes are then placed on the forehead or on the crown, with the words: 

Meménto, homo, quia pulvis es, et in púlverem revertéris

or

Remember, man, that thou art dust, and to dust thou shalt return.
 

Lenten Magic

What we have is a magic ritual of some power. First, ashes are prepared, and these are made from the palm fronds blessed on the previous palm Sunday. Thus the years are linked to one another, and the triumph that will come at Palm Sunday linked to the crucifixion that will follow it. The priest summons an angel to bless the ashes, turning them into remedies for both body and soul. The faithful are blessed by the ashes with a prayer that they specifically be given the power of self-denial in order to combat evil spirits. They are reminded that they are dust and to dust they will return.

Each component of this rite would yield a great deal to meditation. 

Let's talk a bit about dust. 

Genesis 2:7 tells us:

The Lord God formed man from the dust of the earth. He blew into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living being.

In these two sentences we see the whole anatomy of the human being. 

We start with God, who, as we know, is Being Itself; the first term is existence.

Next comes the form, which God holds in his mind.

The form is impressed onto the dust.

And the breath enters in from God himself, bringing life.

God is being; the form is spirit; the breath is soul; the dust is matter.

Matter itself is without form and without life. Moreover, the lowest parts of us, the passions that we share with all animal life, arise from the body, and are thus closest to matter and entangle us with matter, which is merely dust. By remembering that we are dust, we remember three things:

First, our bodies are dust, and the cravings, attachments, pains, pleasures and everything we seem to "need" which arise from them are also mere dust.

Second, the dust itself, utterly formless, is still sustained in its very being by God, as is everything in the universe; underneath the dust, as it were, is God-- and so God is at the root of our being. Too often we confuse our innermost nature, seeing dust where we should see divinity; let us look past the dust to That which is beyond. In doing so, we gain the ability to do battle with the evil spirits, who use our lower nature to delude us, but have no power over higher things.

Third, even as dust, the lowliest thing, is not deprived of the presence of God; even as, remembering that we are dust, we remember that we are of God; so may we remember that by humility we will triumph, whereas by Pride we will be cast down. For

 

He hath shewed strength with his arm.
He hath scattered the proud in the conceit of their hearts;
He hath put down the mighty from their seat

and hath exalted the humble and meek.
 

A blessed Lent to one and all.